IndiaOutspoken opposition MP hits back after being kicked out, blaming a witch-hunt and vowing ‘I’m not going anywhere’
It’s a saga that has had the hallways of India’s parliament abuzz for months: one that began with a bitter custody battle over a rottweiler dog named Henry, and culminated with the expulsion of one of the fiercest critics of the prime minister.
Mahua Moitra, the MP who was expelled from parliament earlier this month after a vote, described the situation as “so ridiculous I feel like pinching myself”. Read More...
Notes & TheoriesScienceBackstreet castratorsAn unsettling glimpse into the world of men who have their testicles removed without medical assistanceI've been reporting on the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting for five years now, and it never fails to give a vivid insight into some bizarre cultural practices - usually ones that end up with people getting mutilated or killed.
This year's prize for the most eye-watering talk goes to Karen Berka Bruewer of KMB Forensic Consulting for " Read More...
RereadingBooksMuriel Spark's novel may be about the various physical and mental afflictions of old age, but far from being depressing or morbid, it is a wonderfully funny and exhilarating read, argues David Lodge'Memento Mori remains one of the great novels of the 1950s," Martin Stannard says in his excellent biography, Muriel Spark (2009), and indeed it does. But it was not a typical 50s novel, and it has not dated. Perhaps the only period-specific detail that would require annotation for younger readers is that cars parked in the streets at night in those days were obliged to have side and rear lights switched on. Read More...